Mathematical Miracles

Fractals and Strange Attractors are mathematical equations (some quite simple) that can demonstrate Infinite complexity (the Mandelbrot set is an example of infinite complexity from the equation z -> z^2 + c iterated over the complex plane) and emergent order through a process of iteration. Furthermore, these equations model exactly the type of signals and structure we observe in the universe.

Another type of computational model is that of the cellular automata. Two special types of behavior that can be observed to emerge from even simple cellular automata is that of Self-Replication and Universal Computation, which means that simple cellular automata can be setup to perform arbitrarily complex calculations, including all of mathematics.

These blindingly simple cellular automata can contain self-replicating structures which are subject to mutation and selection pressures and can therefore evolve over time into more complex structures that (given enough processing power) could express intelligence and such constructs would give the appearance of design where non-existed.

And this doesn't require a stochastic (random) process at all, the mutational factors are built into the structure, operating according to the exact same laws.

There need not be anything 'random' about 'random' mutation either. Indeed, even in our world we label things as 'random' merely because they are beyond our ability to predict. Not for reasons that they cannot be predicted (with the possible exception of Quantum Mechanical processes but it is not demonstrated that Quantum Mechanics is purely random!)

That such beautiful order and complexity emerge from such simple, rigid, deterministic computational processes is one of the many reasons that I believe the universe is NOT a place filled with agency constantly violating the otherwise natural processes.

One might be inclined to ponder, "but who created this order" but that in turn would beg the question of who created the creator. At some point, the buck has to stop and I firmly believe that Thomas Aquinas made some wonderful arguments for the 13th century but they are just that. Ideas limited by the 13th century understanding of the universe, before we had knowledge about fractals, and chemistry, and DNA, and cosmology, and abiogenesis, and evolution, and computers, and quantum mechanics (and the inherit limits it places on the world).

To grant this extra-agency all the power strips it away from where it belongs, with the Universe itself - whatever that ultimately is.

flagellum flagellum

Intelligent Design proponents originally claimed that the flagellum was "irreducibly complex". But there are, in fact, a vast array of flagellum and flagellum pre-cursors evident in nature so it is clearly not irreducibly complex. This claim is one of the best examples of the flaw in the entire approach of Intelligent Design which would ask that you stop looking any further for a natural explanation when in fact, there is a tremendous amount of knowledge hiding behind understanding the TRUE origin of the flagellum.

The flagellum of E. coli contains 40 proteins but only 23 of these proteins are common to other bacterial flagella. Furthermore, many of these proteins server other functions in the cell. For example: the hole used by the flagellum existed prior to use by the flagellum as a protein export portal.

Evolution: Reducible Complexity — The Case for Bacterial Flagella" is just one of many scientific papers on the resolution to this question.

See also, 24 Evolution Myths and Misconceptions

Scientific Literature: neurobiological origins of primitive religion

One of the things I hope to do in this blog is expose people to more of the scientific literature.

For starters, I offer "The neurobiological origins of primitive religion: Implications for comparative mythology" by Steve Farmer, Ph.D. There is a tremendous bibliography at the end of the paper with many hours of reading for interested persons but I will be discussing some of the finer points in more detail in the future. Please at least try to give a read, you'll probably be surprised at how much you can at least get the gist of, even if you don't understand every point. And that's ok -- learning is a life long process.

One of things I hope that readers new to scientific literature will do is stop and think for a moment about just how many scientific papers there are (literally millions of them) and what a herculean task it would be to truly become an expert in just one field of inquiry. There is so much knowledge and information out there, it is not reasonable to expect any one person to understand all of it, indeed, it takes about 6 billion of us to understand only a good fraction of it. This is why arguments from ignorance are just not acceptable (and no, making an argument from ignorance doesn't mean that YOU are ignorant, it means that you are basing your viewpoint on an absence of knowledge and evidence).

Think about that when you ponder how it all began and how life started, especially if you are tempted to think "There just MUST be a God, all this couldn't just happen". Just because you don't understand something, and even if no person in the entire world understands it, that doesn't mean that there has to be a supernatural explanation for it! And also remember that by proposing a supernatural God as the explanation for how our Universe began you ponder the existence of something infinitely more complex "just" existing than our Universe.

And there is absolutely much that science does not yet understand about the subatomic world, our world, and the cosmos. But while we may not know some things with certainty, we do have many clues, hints, and hypotheses.

Think about all the things we have learned over the years about our universe. We used to believe the stars were fixed into the "firmament" of the heavens, we had no idea that they were stars much like our own Sun and we had no idea that some of those stars were ENTIRE galaxies of stars. And we had no idea that there was a vast and rich structure to the universe. And we have also learned much about the extremely tiny. First discovering molecules and then the elements that compose them, and then breaking into the details of the Atom and now even far deep into the structures of the subatomic world. We've learned much about Chemistry, especially organic Chemistry. We've learned about how simple gases and liquids (with the addition of some energy from sun, lightening, volcanoes, thermal vents, and even chemical sources) can drive those elements into complex organic molecules. We even know now how almost every single molecule that is important for the beginning of what we call life (which seems to require some kind of self-replicating structure at a very minimum; although we now struggle to draw any sharp line between life and so-called non-life -- we have many strange forms which fall in the gap in between).

So I ask that you suspend belief in a supernatural God for a moment and ponder just how amazing and wondrous the ACTUAL Universe that we experience every day is. It is both breathtaking and terrifying. It has created animals and Humans with the capacity for love and sacrifice but it is also cruel beyond measure and unmoved by Human emotions (unless WE take action). The authors of the Bible were certainly correct to express the idea that we should be thankful for each and every day because every moment could truly be our last - and I think that they were more acutely aware of that than we tend to be today.

To save the world requires faith and courage: faith in reason, and courage to proclaim what reason shows to be true. ~ Bertrand Russell

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